Video Business reports that a federal judge has granted an injunction against a law that would fine retailers $500 for selling or renting videogames that depict violence against law enforcement officers to anyone under seventeen years old.   Judge Robert S. Lasnik granted the injunction against the law, which was due to go into effect on July 27.  The Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA), the Interactive Digital Software Association, and the Hollywood Video chain joined forces to oppose the law on First Amendment grounds.  The judge's opinion pointed out that singling out violence against law enforcement officers was a 'seemingly arbitrary' choice on the part of lawmakers, who ignored violence against other groups as well as the constitutional rights of both video retailers and their customers.

 

Although this preliminary injunction concerns only videogames, it could have a major effect across the popular arts.  By affirming that videogames are protected speech the Judge's opinion makes it difficult for the government to regulate this relatively new medium and makes it more likely that comics and other modern forms of creative expression will receive the same sort of protections given to books and films.